I fished South Beach on 7/3. Did not have any small, sparse sand eels! I think you all know what happened because of this!!! Talked to a guy we were picking up at Monomoy on last shuttle to finish the day and he reported Shrimp were the ticket and small sparse sand eels. I had shrimp but did not try them. There were loads of spooky fish. With the wind up they were hard to spot beyond 50' mark. Would'nt eat. Very bright and VERY clear water.

What flies should I bring for the Rip Trip? I want to be prepared this time out!

Phil

FredA

07-03-2003, 01:55 PM

It's advisable to have some 6 to 8", or greater, long sandeel flys for the rip. Big and somewhat flashy I think. 300 to 450 grain QD type lines. Nothing subtle about this fishing. Down and dirty. Some standard surf fare for before or after the rip stage of the tide.

bonefishmon

07-03-2003, 02:07 PM

Thanks Fred. Olive and white? Weighted Clousers? Can we expect some flats fishing out there? Are the flats nearby?

Phil

FredA

07-03-2003, 04:16 PM

Olive and white Clouser's with flash and maybe some chartruse. Between the drop off at Powder Hole and the beach front approaching the rips there are "sorta flats". A long walk north from the drop off would get you to typical "Monomoy" flats. But I do not know if that's in the scope of the sanction of this trip. I think it best if someone like Juro comments on this.

seuss

07-03-2003, 05:16 PM

stick some nice juicy orangish redish squid in your box. sometimes they can be just the ticket, especially in that big 'ol rip.

juro

07-03-2003, 05:30 PM

The fish are making a push against the current in water you or I couldn't dream of standing in past the safety of the shore. Needless to say don't wade deep.

The reason for the fast sinking lines and streamlined flies is to get down to the slowest current which is just above the sand. Stripers can handle some serious current and the bait can't, so it's a feed bag situation and the best thing you can do is put a morsel into the rip and let it slide down to papa. More swing than strip. It's like salmon fishing on steriods - cast, swing down current, doink it to send signals to the fish once in a while, repeat.

During slack tides you can fish conventionally meaning cast and strip. Or you can walk around to the north on the west side and sight fish or just cast and walk, the current is moderate to low up there. On the east side is some of the most remote and wild beach front you will probably ever fish. Beautiful area.

One thing to note - there is usually one or two hotspots in the rip where the fish form a veritable wall of feeding bodies. If this occurs it's best to rotate around through the hole to allow everyone a chance to hook up. This is not to say that where one person hits a fish is the only spot, in fact there are often fish all the way up and down the beach and as the tide changes the hot spot moves, but on occasion one spot stayed hot through the day and while others took the white strike some took constant fish and it's become a bit of an unwritten rule to share the wealth where possible among the ten guys.

So to answer your question, the main rip fishing is with fast sinking lines and flies that can get down to the slower current on the bottom. Hawkeye and the Estey clan in general have done well with squid, the deep eel gets down and looks like what they're eating and has done well there.

Secondary fishing is either fishing the shoreline to the north or the big beach to the outside. During slack tides the fishing is much as it would be anywhere else.

Good luck!

Penguin

07-03-2003, 05:48 PM

You might wanna' bring along a Portugese dictionary and some travellers' checks...if you fall in your next stop may be the Azores!:eek:

Adrian

07-03-2003, 07:38 PM

Last year I was lucky enough to fish consecutive days - the first with Los Grandes Pescadores Estes and the second Rip Ryder with the boyz. Day one I noticed fish spooking from the shallows all the way down from the drop off. Next day I hung back while everyone hustled down to the honey hole and picked up a whole bunch of fish just roll casting and stroking the suds :smokin:

striblue

07-03-2003, 09:49 PM

Thanks Juro..I know the situation well as far as the rotating at any hot spot... this is a must with only 100 feet of fly line each and a gonga line along the shore it is usual ,though not the rule, that the swing hits the fish line at one or two points.... on the other hand I have been insituations were there are hook ups all along the gonga line... we will pick up the situation as it happens but, I agree , in the event of a small window we will need to rotate.

Geoff

07-05-2003, 12:05 PM

I am due to head out tomorrow am guys- and I am looking forward to it. Will be fishing a bit during the week so if you see me with the aqua blue tandem kayak on red Forester please say hello.

Is it 7:00 am at the refuge HQ? I have the sinking line, the deep eels- have yet to make the deeper eels,- shrimp from the swap, and the crabs. Pack light and wade wet- yes?

My cell phone - 315- 730-3927. Call me if you want to contact me.

If anything unexpected comes up... are you in the listing Striblue? I will call Keith at RipRyder if there seems to be any question about weather.

I feel lucky to be joining you guys. If anyone ever wants to fish some of the Catskill trout streams .... I'll do my best to help out.

:)

Geoff

FishHawk

07-05-2003, 12:35 PM

Try some flies with copper flash. If the bluefish are in you could have a lot of fun. Oh almost forgot, there are seals out there that like to steal hooked stripers, just ask Juro. Try some flies with almost no flash it seems to work for me this year. FishHawk:smokin:

jfbasser

07-05-2003, 06:59 PM

I will be bringing along a few Clouser replicas of the "KU-Jig" aka the Canal Special to see if some of those canal fish have migrated to the Rips of Monomoy. Stan Kuszia who is now 83 years old and fly fishes Sandwich Beach on a regular basis is a post WWII jig inventor who first taught folks how to be "One with the bottom"